Hope amidst despair

In Cannon Ball, North Dakota there is nothing but dusty land, dry fields, rundown trailers, garbage dumps, and stray dogs within one hours’ drive. We spent our week on Standing Rock Indian Reservation living and working with Tipi Wakan, the only active Christian church in the community. We saw some of the poorest living conditions we’ve seen yet on our 47 week trek across the U.S. Many people don’t have running water in their trailers, food in their homes, or a lawn not covered in trash. It is not a safe place to live or to drive because of the rampant alcoholism that devastates the small community. It is no wonder people turn to drugs and alcohol—a person could go insane with no vehicle and nothing to do for so long. And, to compound the problem, there is no reason to work when they can make more money by not working, collecting assistance checks from the government. As Pastor Boots said, “Besides Christ, the greatest need the Sioux have is for hope.” Hope for anything really, hope for a life that is different from the downward drug-addicted cycle they are trapped in, hope for their children to have an education that can help them succeed, and hope from outsiders who bring love instead of judgment. The only source of hope I found this week (with the exception of the amazing pastor we worked with, Boots) was the latter…

Though unplanned, we worked with a mission group from my hometown (Mt Vernon, IA) this past week on the reservation. I watched as 16 high schoolers and 7 adults brought hope to the children of Cannon Ball. It was so inspiring for me because I used to baby-sit about half of the kids who led Vacation Bible School every afternoon for 30-50 kids on the reservation. It was moving to watch as they offered urine-soaked children piggy back rides, played games and taught Bible lessons to kids who have never been taught manners, and gave unrelenting hugs to youth who hadn’t bathed in days…

It was fun for me to get to sit back and observe. Usually our group is the one leading, but instead we stayed in the background this week doing small work projects around the church, only jumping in with the kids on occasion. To watch kids who I last knew as 5, 6, 7, and 8 year olds leading worship, teaching Bible lessons, and just plain loving these kids filled me with the only hope I have for this place. Cannon Ball is full of despair, drugs, and destitution…yet, as long there are people who care enough to share an outstretched hand, there is still hope. Hope for these children to grow up knowing who their ultimate source of hope is—Jesus Christ.

Kelly